Guildford Chess Club

Welcome to our world!


We aim to provide a safe and secure inclusive environment for all chess players to play and learn about chess.

We are one of the strongest chess clubs in the UK, with over 50 regular adult players and 100 juniors in membership, spanning the complete ability range from beginner to expert.

We currently field 20 teams across four leagues – the Surrey League, the Surrey Border League, the 4 Nations Chess League and the 4NCL Online. Some of our members also play for Surrey County teams and have represented England at both Junior and Senior levels.

Our regular club night is at 7.30pm on Mondays night for adults (earlier for juniors) from September to July at the Guildford Institute on Ward Street – we're closed in August and on Bank Holidays.

We encourage all our members to participate in the life of the club in some way.

Map

How the site works

Access to everything on the site is via the Navigation menu at the top of the page. Move the cursor over each item to reveal a drop-down menu with links to all the pages.

  • About – our constitution, contacts, gallery, history, library, membership, privacy policy, roll of honour, and safeguarding policy.

  • Activities – our calendar, coaching, junior club, league chess, and tournaments.

  • Directory – chess advice, games by club members, and links to the outside chess world.

And below on our home page, see our blog with all the latest news about the club.

It's easy to contact us. There's a contact form below for adults, and a contact form on our Juniors page for juniors.

Click on the club logo on the top left to return to the home page.

Latest news

Programme of activities for 2024/25

Following the AGM on Monday 2 September, the main elements of our programme for 2024/25 are as shown below. Everything starts at 7.30pm except for the Junior Club which runs from 5.15pm to 7.15pm. All competitive games are submitted for ECF rating. All events are free to club members except the club dinner in September 2024 and the Guildford FIDE Congress in April 2025.

On pre-arranged match nights:
  • League and cup matches in a range of competitions – for teams of between 4 and 10 players. Mostly standardplay, some rapidplay.
Every week from September 2024 to May 2025:
  • Internal Rapidplay – 3 rounds an evening, time control 15 minutes for the game plus 15 seconds a move.
  • Internal Standardplay – Time control 75 minutes for the game plus 15 seconds a move (or 45 minutes for the game plus 15 seconds a move if both players agree).
  • Beginners and Improvers groups – casual games, commentary, informal coaching by club members. On some dates there will be a training session with IM Andrew Martin.
In term-time (3 terms a year):
  • Junior Club, with training by qualified chess coaches in a range of different ability groups.
Tournaments:
  • Guildford FIDE Congress – 11 to 13 April 2025 at the University of Surrey.
  • Guildford Summer tournament – on 8 Monday nights in June and July 2025.
Special events:
  • High Street recruitment event – 14 September 2024.
  • Club Dinner – 27 September 2024 at 7.30pm at Olivo's in Guildford.

Contact us

This form is for enquiries from adults. For juniors please use the contact form on our Juniors page.